Former Israeli security officials call on Netanyahu to dialogue with US on Iran deal
For many former senior security officials, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should work with the Biden administration, not against it, for a rapid nuclear deal with Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel will not rely on efforts to return to a nuclear deal with Iran, stating “Israel isn’t pinning its hopes on an agreement with an extremist regime like [Iran]. We already saw what these agreements are worth … with North Korea.”
Still, as Netanyahu was busy formulating the Israeli strategy on the expected resumption of Iran-US negotiations, hundreds of the country’s former generals, spies and defense experts were urging him to back the approach adopted by US President Joe Biden.
The group, known as Commanders for Israel’s Security, called on Netanyahu to support Biden’s approach for returning to the nuclear deal with Iran — but on condition that Iran resumes all its commitments under its 2015 agreement with world powers.
The letter’s loaded message was undoubtedly troubling for Netanyahu, based as it was on the conclusions of a team of experts with impeccable credentials led by former Mossad Director Tamir Pardo. Among its other members were Eli Levite, the former deputy director general of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission; Maj. Gen. (Res.) Nitzan Alon, who served as the government’s point person on the Iran nuclear threat; and professor Uzi Arad, former Mossad official and Netanyahu national security adviser. The group’s letter dumped a bucket of ice water on Netanyahu's recent attempts to ignite a fire along the Washington-Jerusalem-Tehran axis.
